Daily Mass Readings for July 07, 2026: Gospel — Mt 9,32-38

⁴ They enthroned kings without my consent. They appointed princes without my approval. They made idols out of their silver and gold, but they will be destroyed! ⁵ O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol. My anger burns against them! They will not survive much longer without being punished, even though they are Israelites! ⁶ That idol was made by a workman—it is not God! The calf idol of Samaria will be broken to bits. ⁷ They sow the wind, and so they will reap the whirlwind! The stalk does not have any standing grain; it will not produce any flour. Even if it were to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it all up. 1 1 :¹ “When Israel was a young man, I loved him like a son, and I summoned my son out of Egypt. ² But the more I summoned them, the farther they departed from me. They sacrificed to the Baal idols and burned incense to images. ³ Yet it was I who led Ephraim; I took them by the arm, but they did not acknowledge that I had healed them. ⁴ I drew them with leather cords, with straps of hide; I lifted the yoke from their neck and gently fed them. ⁵ They will return to Egypt! Assyria will rule over them because they refuse to repent! ⁶ A sword will flash in their cities; it will destroy the bars of their city gates, and will devour them in their fortresses. ⁷ My people are obsessed with turning away from me; they call to Baal, but he will never exalt them! ⁸ “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? I have had a change of heart. All my tender compassions are aroused. ⁹ I cannot carry out my fierce anger! I cannot totally destroy Ephraim! Because I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you— I will not come in wrath! 1 ⁰ “He will roar like a lion, and they will follow the Lord; when he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. 1 ¹ They will return in fear and trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria, and I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord. 1 2 (12:1 ) Ephraim has surrounded me with lies; the house of Israel has surrounded me with deceit. But Judah still roams about with God; he remains faithful to the Holy One. 1 2 :¹ Ephraim continually feeds on the wind; he chases the east wind all day; he multiplies lies and violence. They make treaties with Assyria and send olive oil as tribute to Egypt. ² The Lord also has a covenant lawsuit against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. ³ In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God. ⁴ He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him! ⁵ As for the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is the name by which he is remembered! ⁶ But you must return to your God, by maintaining love and justice and by waiting for your God to return to you. ⁷ The businessmen love to cheat; they use dishonest scales. ⁸ Ephraim boasts, “I am very rich! I have become wealthy! In all that I have done to gain my wealth, no one can accuse me of any offense that is actually sinful.” ⁹ “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again as in the days of old. 1 ⁰ I spoke to the prophets; I myself revealed many visions; I spoke in parables through the prophets.” 1 ¹ Is there idolatry in Gilead? Certainly its inhabitants will come to nothing! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field! 1 ² Jacob fled to the country of Aram, then Israel worked to acquire a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her. 1 ³ The Lord brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet, and due to a prophet Israel was preserved alive. 1 ⁴ But Ephraim bitterly provoked him to anger; so he will hold him accountable for the blood he has shed; his Lord will repay him for the contempt he has shown. 1 3 :¹ When Ephraim spoke, there was terror; he was exalted in Israel, but he became guilty by worshiping Baal and died. ² Even now they persist in sin! They make metal images for themselves, idols that they skillfully fashion from their own silver; all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen. There is a saying about them: “Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!” ³ Therefore they will disappear like the morning mist, like early morning dew that evaporates, like chaff that is blown away from a threshing floor, like smoke that disappears through an open window. ⁴ But I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Therefore, you must not acknowledge any God but me. Except for me there is no Savior. ⁵ I cared for you in the wilderness, in the dry desert where no water was. ⁶ When they were fed, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; as a result, they forgot me! ⁷ So I will pounce on them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk by the path. ⁸ I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs— I will rip open their chests. I will devour them there like a lion— like a wild animal would tear them apart. ⁹ I will destroy you, O Israel! Who is there to help you? 1 ⁰ Where then is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are your rulers for whom you asked, saying, “Give me a king and princes”? 1 ¹ I granted you a king in my anger, and I will take him away in my wrath! 1 ² The punishment of Ephraim has been decreed; his punishment is being stored up for the future. 1 ³ The labor pains of a woman will overtake him, but the baby will lack wisdom; when the time arrives, he will not come out of the womb! 1 ⁴ Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not! Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not! O Death, bring on your plagues! O Sheol, bring on your destruction! My eyes will not show any compassion! 1 ⁵ Even though he flourishes like a reed plant, a scorching east wind will come, a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. As a result, his spring will dry up; his well will become dry. That wind will spoil all his delightful foods in the containers in his storehouse. 1 6 (14:1 ) Samaria will be held guilty because she rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their infants will be dashed to the ground— their pregnant women will be ripped open.